Improvement in paddle-wheels



lnited tapes @anni camine.

Letters Pawn No. 91,221, dated .Time 15, 1869.

IMPRovEMnNT 1N Primate-WHEELS.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of thesame.

1 To all whom it ma/y conce/m.-

Be it known that I, ADDISON 0. FLETCHER, of the city, county, and StateofN ew York, have invented a new and useful Improvemeutin Paddle-Wheelsfor PropellingVessels, of which the following is a full, clear, andcxactdescriptiou, reference being had to the accompanying drawing,forming part of this specification, and in which- Figure 1 represents aside view of a paddle-wheel constructed in accordance with myimprovement, and

Figure 2,.a transverse section of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

My invent-ion consists in a novel construction and combination offloats, made up, for the most part, of parabolic curves, whereby a moreeficient action geuerally is secured to the paddle.

Referring to the accompanying drawing- A represents the paddle-shaft,and

B B, the hubs or bosses, carrying radial arms O C, each of which is madeto form double arms or extensions a a.

The wheel is here supposed to rotate in the direction indicated by thearrow as.

Its arms O C carry in between them, extending from side to side of thewheel, a oat, D, of single parabolic curvature, secured to the backs ofthe arms, at their outer ends, and curving backward -in an innerdirection.

In rear of. these floats D, connecting either pair of theadiacentsidearmsQMQLarelotherbiiketEfofa ouble or reverse paraboliccurvature, presenting convex and cncaye faces b and c, arranged to coss,aait were, the free ends ofthe oats D, at a slight distance from suchends, so as to 'leave an escape-passage or space, S,b`etween them andthe double-curved oats E. By this Vconstructionand"combination orarrangeL ment of the floats, the doats, D, in acting upon or against thewater, have a tendency to throw or pass the water up over them in acurvilinear direction, thus preventing jar on said floats entering thewater, and causing the water passing over them to strike the rear oatsE` at or about the junction of the reversely-curved faces l] and c,where the water is concentiated, as it were, so as to act with increasedeffect,

the convex face b aiding Very materially in effecting this result, andboth faces b and c of the oats E haviug, besides, a direct and eicientaction on or against the waterfwhil a slow but ready clearance for deadnwater is secured by the passage $3, and the concave formof the face cmade to hold the water in rear of the oat D, and to project it againstor toward the latter, at the same time securing a ready clearance andavoidance oflifting dead-water when the ioats leave the water.

D and E present a similar construction and arrangement of tloats, butshowing them as formed with corrugations d e, arranged transversely tothe width of the oats, which corrugations, to either or both of thecurved oats, not only serve .to secure a more extended surface, but toprevent lateral slip of the water, and to make more e'icient, generally,a curved bucket or ioat.

What is here claimed, and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is- YThe combination of the floats or buckets D and E, the latter of a doubleor reverse parabolccurvaturc, the former of a single curvature, with itsupper edge arranged to converge towards the mid-depth of the former,substantially as specified.

ADDISON O. FLETCHER.

Witnesses:

FREDK. HAYNES, J. W. OooMBs.

